IndyCar 2021 Preview: Carlin
Max Chilton returns for a fourth season for all races except Texas (2 races) and Gateway. A driver for those races still has yet to be announced.
By Michael Eubanks
This is the fourth of a 10-part weekly series of previews of each full-time team slated to compete in the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series. Each preview will give an overview of all drivers currently signed to drive for the team, recap the team’s 2020 results, describe what’s new for the team in 2021 and provide an outlook for the team’s performance this season.
Today’s preview features Carlin. The season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama takes place on April 18.
Max Chilton enters his fourth season with Carlin in 2021. Photo: Chris Owens/IndyCar
2021 Drivers (name, car number, all Chevrolet powered): Max Chilton - No. 31 (road and street courses and Indy 500), Driver TBA - No. 31 (both races at Texas and Gateway only)
2020 recap: The team fielded one entry, with Max Chilton running all the road and street courses and Indy 500 and Conor Daly running the remaining oval rounds. Chilton finished the season 22nd in the points standings, with a best finish of 11th (Indianapolis Grand Prix, Race 1). Daly finished 17th in the points standings (having run the remainder of the season with Ed Carpenter Racing), with a best finish of sixth. Daly also scored the team’s first pole position in Iowa Race 1, where he also led 13 laps.
What's new for 2021: The team will once again be a single-car operation this season, with Chilton returning to the No. 31 for 14 of the 17 races on the schedule. No driver has been announced yet for the remaining three races (the two Texas races and one at Gateway), although Daly remains a logical choice.
Photo: Chris Owens/IndyCar
Season Outlook: Carlin’s results this season likely will remain similar to what they were in 2020, but there is a possibility they may slightly improve in 2021. Daly’s performance last year has shown that the team can record respectable finishes with the right driver, so a few top 10 finishes for the team are not out of the question. Realistically, the team should aim to finish within the top 15 every weekend.
Driver Quotes: “It's really exciting to be back with Carlin. This is our fourth year. I know I say it every year, but I do think we've learned a lot last year. Last year was a huge challenge, probably more challenging than our first year if I'm honest because it was our first year of just running as a single-car entry.
“Also the way the world was, we got very little testing and everything logistically and organizational-wise was a challenge. I think we've done a great job considering and we've done more of a development program over this winter than any of the other previous.
Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for IndyCar
“So I am confident that the car has improved. I'm also confident that I've improved in myself. I've taken on a sports psychologist, I have started doing weekly simulator sessions, changed my training a little bit, just to try and stir things up and see if it helps because there's just as much time in myself, the driver, as there is the team.
“Hopefully those two things combined, we can regularly get into the top 10 and hopefully once you are regularly in the top 10, you get the odd podium. It's just at the moment we've struggled to get those regular top 10s. We're looking forward to going into this year with a bit more confidence.” - Max Chilton